Kobe Bryant managed to build two Hall of Fame-level chapters in one career. First as No. 8, and then as No. 24. Wearing No. 8, the Mamba was a young phenom flying alongside Shaq and helping the Lakers three-peat from 2000 to 2002. That version of Kobe was all explosiveness, swagger, and fearless shot-making. Then, in No. 24, he evolved into the seasoned assassin, adding two more titles in 2009 and 2010 to give him five total.
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What makes it cooler is that numbers in sports usually carry some kind of personal meaning. For Kobe, the switch symbolized a new phase of his career and mindset, almost like a rebrand from prodigy to master craftsman.
Lakers legend Byron Scott shed some more details on the famous number switch during the latest edition of his podcast. The NBA icon, who coached Kobe in his final years on the Purple and Gold, revealed why Kobe switched to 24 after previously showing out as 8.
“I asked him why you change your number from 8 to 24? He said ‘Coach, 24 hours in a day. That means I got 24 hours to be better than I was the day before.’ I was like only you would come up with sh** like that,” recalled Scott, laughing.
It’s something that only Kobe could get away with. An incredible life-altering ideology on changing from one even digit to another.
“When he changed his number he already put in thought on what he was changing it for. Not just most people saying ‘idk Elgin Baylor was my favorite player.’ His thinking was so much deeper,” added Scott.
In the second phrase, he didn’t laugh. He seemed a little more despondent, as if he missed Kobe a lot in that moment because it marked another memory that only the Mamba could have created.
Byron Scott shares a story on what Kobe Bryant told him why he switched from number 8 to 24:
“I asked him why you change your number from 8 to 24? He said ‘Coach, 24 hours in a day. That means I got 24 hours to be better than I was the day before.’ I was like only you would come… https://t.co/pBfdYIOa3o pic.twitter.com/stelSSOxLD
— Heat Central (@HeatCulture13) February 9, 2026
It might be a bit more dissected than it needs to be, but this was a topic that basketball fans wanted to know about. The five-time NBA champion once answered a question about which of the two numbers he preferred. He admitted that 24 took the crown, but just barely.
“24 was more challenging, and I tend to gravitate to things that are harder to do. And physically for me it was really really hard to get up night in and night out,” said Bryant during a press conference ahead of both of his numbers getting retired.
Maybe the real takeaway isn’t which number was better, but how obsessed Kobe was with growth, no matter the jersey on his back. The league watched him go from a gifted kid to a master technician who studied the game like a science, and that kind of evolution is rare even among greats.
His number switch almost feels like a reminder that careers, like people, aren’t static. They level up if the work is there. You can see it today in how younger stars talk about “Mamba Mentality” like it’s a blueprint, not just a slogan. In the end, 8 and 24 weren’t competing stories. They were two halves of the same legacy that still sets the standard for how seriously you can take basketball.
